


Carry My Cross Without You

by rrKhan



Series: My Armor is Made of Titanium-Gold Alloy, You Can’t Get In (I’m a Warrior) [2]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, The Avengers - Ambiguous Fandom
Genre: Afghanistan, Alpha Happy Hogan, Alpha Harley Keener, Alpha Obadiah Stane, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Angst, Beta James "Rhodey" Rhodes, Beta James Edwin Stark, Beta Pepper Potts, Beta Zeke Stane, F/M, Family Bonding, Family Dynamics, Family Feels, Harley Keener is Tony Stark's Biological Child, Iron Man 1, Kidnapped Tony Stark, Kidnapping, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Missing Persons, Missing in Action, Omega Peter Parker, Omega Tony Stark, Parent Tony Stark, Peter Parker is Tony Stark's Biological Child, Protective James "Rhodey" Rhodes, Protective Pepper Potts, Tony Stark Feels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-26
Updated: 2020-05-26
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:28:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,521
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24386725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rrKhan/pseuds/rrKhan
Summary: Pepper is in Tony’s study when Rhodey calls.
Relationships: Harley Keener & Pepper Potts, Obadiah Stane/Tony Stark, Pepper Potts/James "Rhodey" Rhodes, Peter Parker & Harley Keener & Pepper Potts, Peter Parker & Pepper Potts, Zeke Stane & Harley Keener, Zeke Stane & James "Rhodey" Rhodes, Zeke Stane & James Edwin Stark, Zeke Stane & Obadiah Stane, Zeke Stane & Pepper Potts, Zeke Stane & Peter Parker, Zeke Stane & Peter Parker & Harley Keener & James Edwin Stark, pre-Pepper Potts/James "Rhodey" Rhodes, pre-Steve Rogers/Tony Stark - Relationship
Series: My Armor is Made of Titanium-Gold Alloy, You Can’t Get In (I’m a Warrior) [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1753996
Comments: 7
Kudos: 93





	Carry My Cross Without You

**Author's Note:**

> You kind of need to read my WIP [There's a Fire Burning in My Bones](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24173584/chapters/58219153) to understand certain things in this fic, which is incidentally the first work in this [series](https://archiveofourown.org/series/1753996). So I would encourage you to do so, and not just because I want you to read my other stuff ;).

Pepper is in Tony’s study when Rhodey calls.

Pepper usually works from Tony’s home rather than SI Malibu when Tony is away and she isn’t with him, especially in the evenings when the boys are home from school and Nanny Clara is getting ready to go home. She looks after the boys during these times, stays all the way up until the boys are asleep in bed. Happy would stay (and does when Pepper and Rhodey can’t), but the Alpha has his own partner and kids to go home to, and Obie…Well, Obie was about the least present parent Pepper has ever witnessed, even with his darling Alpha son. Pepper doesn’t really mind, anyway. Sure, it’s not technically in her job description, but she doesn’t do this as Tony Stane’s personal assistant. She does this as Tony Stane’s friend, as his _sister_ , as aunt and godmother of Peter, Harley, and James. Pepper loves Tony and she loves these kids. So she doesn’t mind.

Pepper is in Tony’s study when Rhodey calls. Happy has just brought Peter and Harley home from school, the boys racing each other into the house and to their rooms. Nanny Clara has just put Jamie down for a nap, and she scolds Peter and Harley for being too rowdy, in fear that they will wake the baby Beta. She then goes to prepare an after school snack for the children. (Obie isn’t home, probably at SI Malibu.)

“This is Pepper Potts. How may I help you?” Pepper answers the call without checking who it was.

“Pepper. It’s me, Jim.” Rhodey says, sounding breathless through the phone.

“Jim? Isn’t it like 2:30 in the morning in Afghanistan? You and Tony should be sleeping, you’ve got an early flight. Wait, why are you calling?”

For a moment, only silence comes from the other side of the line. Pepper can feel the panic start to rise in her. This is _not_ going to be good news.

“Rhodey,” Pepper pleads, using the name usually only reserved for Tony and the boys, “You have to say _something. Anything, please._ ” 

“I don’t want to say this twice,” Rhodey says, pained, “I would’ve called earlier, but the boys would’ve been in school. And I couldn’t let you…I couldn’t… _I_ have to be the one tell them, tell you all.” 

“Jim, you’re really scaring me. Please just tell me what’s going on.” Pepper brushes away a few panicked and frustrated tears from her cheek.

“No,” Pepper can almost see Jim shaking his head, “You should all be together when I tell you. Get Peter, Harley, Jamie—God, _Jamie_. He’s so _young_.—Get them all in the living room. Get Happy too. Hell, even Nanny Clara. I’ll start a video call. I’ll get Zeke on it too. Don’t let anyone watch the news.”

So Pepper does just that. She gets Peter, Harley, and Nanny Clara who had just served the boys peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, milk, and one Oreo each, and guides them to the living room. She grabs Happy who is outside talking to his wife on the phone in hushed but fond tones. Jamie stays asleep, Pepper unwilling to wake the toddler up for something he won’t even understand. Then they all sit in the living room waiting for Rhodey’s call.

Peter and Harley are a little confused, if not excited. They get to video call their Uncle Rhodey, what’s not great about that? They’re too young to understand the implications of this call. The adults, on the other hand, do. Pepper, Happy, and Nanny Clara are all tense in their anticipation. They are all expecting the worst, though they don’t even know what the worst may even entail.

Rhodey final calls, the ringtone Tony has set up for him bursting into the room (the theme song for Perry the Platypus from Phineas and Ferb; Tony was delighted when the kid’s show came out, Rhodey, less so) and a goofy picture of Tony and Rhodey from their days at MIT shows up on the screen. Pepper accepts with a hitch in her breathing.

Both Rhodey and Zeke pop up onto the screen. Rhodey and Zeke both look tired, but Rhodey also looked _pained_. Zeke is the first to speak. “Hey guys, what’s up?” The Beta yawned, “I just finished classes and was going to take a nap before starting my homework.” Zeke was entirely too nonchalant. Rhodey probably didn’t warn him the way he warned Pepper, which Pepper had subtly passed on to the other adults in the house. If Zeke had known something had happened, he wouldn’t be acting the way he was.

“I have to tell you guys something,” Rhodey says, “And I need you to brace yourselves.” Zeke shakes himself awake and sits up abruptly at the tone of his uncle’s voice. This wasn’t a social call. This was a message of news. _Bad news._

Rhodey takes a deep breath. “The presentation had just ended and we were about to head back. Tony wanted to be in separate transport vehicles. God knows why I let him, but I did. About an hour into the drive, the convoy was attacked. There was a firefight, and Tony went missing. We think he was taken by whoever attacked.”

Peter and Harley immediately started crying, starting softly but progressing into heaving sobs. Jumbles of blubbered _Where’s Momma?_ and _Are they going to find him?_ and _I want Momma back!_

 _I want your Momma back too,_ Pepper thinks. She doesn’t know how she feels. She’s just numb. She barely notices Nanny Clara and Happy try to calm Peter and Harley down. She needs to think. She needs to compartmentalize. Tony was _gone_ , at least for now. Because she has to believe that he would be back and that he would be back soon. But for now, there are a billion things for Pepper to do in his absence. But the first and most important thing: the boys. Tony would want Pepper to take care of the boys, just like she always does when he’s gone.

So Pepper snaps back into action. Nanny Clara had already ended the call on their end. Happy went off to go get Zeke from Pasadena because he needs to be _here _. Pepper quickly gathers Peter and Harley into her arms and lets the boys cry themselves out.__

If she let out a few tears herself, well, that was no one’s business but hers.

When Nanny Clara ended the call, the call didn’t _actually_ come to a stop. Rhodey and Zeke stay on the line. For a long time, the two Betas just stare at each other in silence.

“He can’t be gone,” Zeke finally croaked.

“He’s not _gone_ ,” Rhodey says almost harshly, “We’re going to find him. _I’m_ going to find him.”

There is silence once again, only broken by the sounds of hitched breaking and sniffling noses.

“You should get ready,” Rhodey starts, “Happy will be there soon to pick you up.”

Zeke lets out a watery scoff. “Dad won’t let me stay. God, does he know? Does he even fucking care?”

“Language,” Rhodey admonishes weakly, “I don’t know for sure if your dad knows, but it’s likely that he does. If someone from the military hasn’t called him, he might’ve found out on the news. As for letting you stay, even if your dad is just that cruel-hearted, Pepper will bulldoze over him. She will make sure that Obie doesn’t make you go back tomorrow, and after that, it will be the weekend anyway.”

Zeke can only nod.

“Zeke, listen,” Rhodey starts again, suddenly sounding very serious, “I didn’t want to say this in front of Peter and Harley, they’re too young. But I don’t know how long this is going to take. We’re _going_ to find your Mom, but it could take days, weeks, even months. So you have to step up. Your dad isn’t a good man, Zeke, you know that, and he’s an even worse father. You have to protect your brothers. Not just Peter and Jamie cuz their not Alphas, but because Harley _is_ Alpha. He hasn’t been able to get close and make Harley into a mini him because your Mom hasn’t let him. You have to make sure he doesn’t get to Harley, to any of them. You have to be the big brother now. Protect them like Tony protects all of you.”

Zeke can only nod as he brushes away tears, not trusting his voice. He’s going to make his Mom proud.

Happy comes to Pasadena in record time and takes Zeke back to Malibu even faster. Pepper is there, but Nanny Clara has already gone. Zeke’s father is home too.

Zeke basically stumbles into the house, feeling absolutely boneless, and makes his way to the living room first. Pepper and Obie are talking in low, harsh voices there. Pepper is the first to notice him. “Zeke,” Pepper starts, sadly but with warmth.

Obie turns to look at Zeke too. In the span of two seconds, Obie strides over to Zeke and pulls the boy into a hug. Zeke is frozen from the shock of it. “My boy,” his dad rumbles, “It’s a terrible thing that’s happened to your step-mother.”

 _Step-mother._ Obie has always called Tony that when talking in reference to Zeke. Zeke hates it. It diminishes everything that exists between Tony and him. Tony is the only mother that Zeke has ever known. Tony _is_ Zeke’s Mom.

“What were you guys arguing about?” Zeke asks, not even bothering to argue his father on that point. “If it’s about me going to school, I’m not going back until at least Monday. I just found out Mom is _missing_. And the whole world probably knows by now too. My teachers will think it’s weirder that I’m there right now than that I’m not.”

“Alright,” Obie relents bitterly, “but I want you back in school Monday. I don’t want you to fall behind because of this.” Zeke has to stop himself from rolling his eyes. His Mom has been missing for less than 24 hours and his father can only think of his schooling right now; it really says all too much.

Zeke turns away without another word. He has to look for his brothers.

Zeke first checks Jamie’s room and finds that Jamie has woken up from his nap without a cry. Instead, the baby was happily babbling at the spinning mobile above his crib. Zeke’s heart sinks. Jamie doesn’t understand what’s going on. Jamie doesn’t know his Mama is _gone_.

Zeke shakes himself from that thought and squeezes his eyes shut tight to try to make the tears recede. After a few deep breaths, he walks over to and leans over the crib. Jamie’s face seemingly lights up at the sight of his older brother. “Zee,” the baby screeches, reaching his arms out to the other Beta.

Zeke instantly takes the cue and takes the toddler into his arms, grimacing as the baby runs a spit-covered hand across his face. Now he just needs to find Peter and Harley. They were obviously not in the living room, as that was where Obie and Pepper were arguing. Zeke checks each of their rooms but comes up empty-handed. He checks the kitchen, the music room, the game room, and finds nothing. Then Zeke remembers that they have an AI that knows everything that goes on in the house. “JARVIS,” Zeke starts, “Do you happen to know where my little brothers are?”

“In the workshop, Young Master.”

Zeke instantly becomes worried. Peter and Harley are not supposed to be in the workshop unless they have Tony’s supervision, and they know that. “JARVIS, why would you let them in without Tony?”

“The Young Masters explicitly promised not to touch anything,” JARVIS says as defensively as the AI could, “They are simply grieving, Young Master Zeke.”

Well, Zeke couldn’t exactly argue with that. Instead, he just makes his way down to the workshop. He punches in his access code, and his breath is taken away at the sight of his brothers. There they are, laying on the small cot off to the side of the workshop, bundled up in old band T-shirts and MIT apparel, _their Mom’s clothes_ , huddled together. Zeke walks over and sits on the edge of the cot, adjusting Jamie onto his lap. “What are you guys doing down here?” Zeke asks, though he may have an inkling of the answer.

“The workshop is the most Momma,” Harley mumbles his answer. Peter just nods. _God, could this be any harder?_

“It is, isn’t it?” Zeke lets the silence sit for a moment before beginning again, “Sit up you guys. I gotta tell you something really important, ok?”

Sluggishly, the two younger boys sit up onto the cot, a far cry from the rambunctious children they usually were. “First of all,” Zeke begins, “Mom is coming _back_. Uncle Rhodey will move heaven and earth to make sure that Mom comes home safe. But there’s something even more important we have to talk about: Dad.”

Curious glances are sent Zeke’s way. He continues, “Since Mom isn’t here, things are going to change a lot. For one, Dad is probably going to be home _way_ more often.”

Peter and Harley both make faces at that. “Yeah, I know. It sucks. So we have to protect each other from Dad, okay? We have to keep our secrets and Mom’s. Dad might try to teach you things that are the opposite of things Mom says. If he does that, forget anything he says and stick to what Mom says, okay? And don’t go to Dad with important problems. Always go to Auntie Pep or Uncle Happy. Nanny Clara possibly, depending on what it is. And me, you can always come to me. Dad’s making me go back to school on Monday, so I’ll only be here during weekends, but…” Zeke trails off as he gets up and walks toward Tony’s workstation, leaving Jamie in Peter’s lap. He opens a drawer on the very bottom right and finds what he’s looking for.

“These are phones that Mom keeps for emergencies like this. It can only text and call. Your screen time for video games is still limited to your tablets. Use this only to get to me, Auntie Pep, Uncle Happy, or even Uncle Rhodey. Do not show them off to your friends. No one can find out that you have these. Not your friends, not your teachers, and _especially_ not Dad. Got it?”

The younger boys nod emphatically as their brother hands them the phones. Zeke sits back onto the cot and wraps his arms around his brothers, dropping a kiss atop each of their heads. And they stay like that for the next hour or two.

They’re not _okay_. Won’t be, until their mom comes back. But, they’re going to be fine. They’re going to get through this. Zeke was going to get them through this. He’s their older brother; they are his responsibility now. He was going to make his Mom _proud_.

**Author's Note:**

> Tony kind of leaves his family in a mess, but it's okay because Pepper and Zeke will hold them together until he gets back. 
> 
> If you haven't, please check out [There's a Fire Burning in My Bones](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24173584/chapters/58219153) to understand the universe and story this comes from. 
> 
> Title inspired by Without You by Avicii. 
> 
> I'm on Tumblr as [i-put-the-bi-in-hijabi](http://i-put-the-bi-in-hijabi.tumblr.com/). 
> 
> Kudos and comments are appreciated!


End file.
